Improvement in machines for steaming cloth



power. spit D 1s located a listing or selvage roller, G,

UNITED STATES Pn'rn1\T. 'L QFF L IVILLIAM IIEBDON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR STEAMING CLOTH.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,674, dated January 20, 1874; application filed Drcember 15, 1873.

To all whom it may conccm Be it known that I, W ILLIAM HEBDON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Machine for Steam-Sponging Cloth, of which the following is a specification:

Figure l of the accompanying drawings is a central vertical transverse section of my improved steam-sponging and listing machine. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine, operated by hand or any motive power, by which cloth, &c., as it is unrolled, has both selvages or listings removed, and is steamsponged on both sides, and rolled up in an expeditious and effective manner. My invention consists mainly of a machine for unrolling, removing two selvagcs 0r listings, steamsponging both sides, and rolling up cloth or other material, arran ged, as will be hereinafter more fully described, with an adjustable winding roller,

spit, or mandrel, provided with a cog-wheel,

meshing with and operating a cog-wheel of a listing-roller, that meshes with a cog-wheel attached to and operating an miwinding-roller, above which are located, one over the other,

and between suitable guiding-rollers, periorated steamboxes, provided within with suita' blei devices for preventing the rushing of water through the perforations, all of which I will now proceed more particularly to describe.

In the drawings, A represents a frame, of metal or any other suitable material, open and shaped as shown, or made in other desired E, and has on its out-side end a suitable crank,

I or is otherwise arranged to receive motive Below and in rear of the roller or provided with suitable cap ends b, and a cogwheel, H, that-meshes with and is operated by the cog-wheel E: In advance of the roller G, on the axle-line with it, is an unwindingroller, I, turning in the frame A, and having at one end a cog-wheel, J, that meshes with and is operated by the cog-wheel, H. In the center, supported at each end of the frame A, and located one above the other, are steamboxes K K, each having a semicircular or other curved bottom, and a perforated metal tube, (1 (1, extending longitudinally within an outer metal casing, c 0, having an upper horizontal partition, ff, to prevent the forcing out of the water condensed from the steam onto the cloth or other material, the said partition being formed with a suitable number of orifices, g g, to allow the escape of steam above the said partition to a passage or chamber formed between the partition and a perforated top or cover, h h. Each of the boxes K K is provided with'an eduction-pipe,

In front of the steam-box K are two guiderollers, L L, located one above and a little in the rear of the other; and at the rear of the box K are two parallel guide-rollers, M M, one near the box and the other near the rear of the frame A, above which rollers M M, at the rear of the box K, are located two similar guide-rollers, N N, and in front of the box K,

above the roller L, is a guide-roller, 0. Connected with the tubes (1 d of the steam-boxes K K are branch pipes jj, provided with suitable faucets and connected with an inductionpipe, k, through which steam is admitted to the tubes. The winding-roller D and unwinding-roller I may be either flat, round, or any other desired shape, their ends being arranged with axles, or otherwise arranged to turn in the sides or ends of the frame A, or otherwise arranged to rotate.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The cloth or other material is first placed upon the unwinding-roller I, and one end carried under the guide-roller M, over the roller N, under the roller N, over the steam-box K, and down over the roller 0, between therollers L L, over the steam-box K, until a sufficient quantity of material has been unrolled and is steamed on both sides to reach the winding I spit or roller D, to which it is brought over the guide-roller M and held by a bar or otherwise. The steam is then turned on and the selvages or listings on either side are connected with the listing-roller G, and steam is then admitted to the tubes cl d and motion imparted to the spit or winding-roller D, which rotates, by means of the cog-wheels E H J, the listing-roller G (which, in its rotation, separates and winds the selvages or listings on either side of the cloth,) and theunwindingroller I; and thus the cloth is unwound and steamed on both sides, the steam issuing from the perforations of the top h acting on one side of the cloth as it is brought over the box K, and the steam issuing through the perforated top h acting on the other side of the cloth in its passage over the box K, and the cloth or other material is rolled by one operation of the machine in an expeditious and effective manner.

It is necessary that all woolens, before being made into garments, should be sponged on both sides, and it is the custom of the trade that the selvages should be removed before the material is made up. Ordinarily, to steam the goods by machinery, the cloth was wound around a cylinder and steam forced through the bulk of the cloth, which was by this process saturated on the inside, while the outside was scarcely affected; or, in the ordinary cloth-brushing machineused for steam-sponging cloth, the cloth was passed over a single and labor, after which above-mentioned open ation the cloth had to be listed and then rolled up, thus necessitating the expenditure of still more time and labor.

It will be seen by the description of my invention, reference being had to the drawings, that the objections above referred to are obviated by my improvements, the cloth being unwound, steamed on both sides, listed, and rolled up all at one operation of the machine, which requires the attention of but one person.

WVhen required to steam only one side of the material it may be arranged on the rollers to be brought over only one of the steameboxes.

Having thus described my improvements,

what I claim as my invention, and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for steam-spongin g cloth or other material, an unwinding-roller, I, listing or selvage roller ,G, and winding spit, mandrel, or roller D, arranged, respectively, with cog-wheels J H E, operated by hand or other motive power, in combination with guide-rollers L L M M N N O and frame A, substantially as described, and for the purposes speci tied.

2. The steam-boxes K K, in combination with the rollers I Gr D, guide-rollers L L M M N N 0, and frame A, all arranged and op erating substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VVILLIA M HERDON. lVitnesses CARROLL D. VVRIGIIT, SAML. M. BARTON. 

